While the lieutenant read out the car assignments, Amanda passed out subpoenas to the officers. Day watch cops didn’t care too much about going to court, as long as the date did not fall when they were supposed to be off duty.
They had no problem spending half of their workday at the courthouse in the officer’s waiting room. It beat pushing a black and white through LA traffic and handling radio calls. While waiting for their case to be called, they could shoot the breeze with other cops and avoid any conflicts with the citizens of Los Angeles that might turn into a personnel complaint.
The atmosphere in the station was depressed. Usually, the guys would joke with her and pretend to give her a hard time when she’d hand them a subpoena. Today, they just took them, signed for them, and stared ahead with contemplative looks on their faces.
“Listen, guys,” said the lieutenant. “I know we’re all hurting, but the best thing we can do is get out there and catch the Mall Mob. Someone knows who was driving that red Toyota.”
Dallas Cruz, never a ray of sunshine, cursed. “Why bother? We go out there and bust our asses to take assholes into custody, and they’re out on the street before we have time to take a piss.”
The lieutenant nodded. “You’re not wrong, and I understand your frustration. But we swore to uphold the law, and that’s our job and we need to do it. What the courts do is out of our hands.”
Furrowed brows and lips pressed into thin lines told Amanda that the troops weren’t buying the pile of excrement he was trying to sell them.
Sensing the mood of the room, the watch commander released them, with a “Grab a cup, then go out there, and get to work…and be safe.”
Normally, the supervisors would be the first ones to relieve the morning watch. But by a mutual unspoken understanding, she, the lieutenant, and McKenzie held back.
He spoke first. “Can’t blame them for how they feel. We thought the jail had a revolving door when we were out there snoopin’, poopin’, and making arrests. Now it’s literally true.”
Mancuso sighed. “We’ve been through tough times before. All we can do is our best and keep ourselves safe. I want you to roll on at least one radio call for each basic car today. Let’s be sure everyone’s head is in the game. I don’t care how you divide it up or who monitors who.”
“Will do, Tony,” she said.
McKenzie looked at her and grinned. “I say we flip a coin to decide who checks in on Cruz and Romanelli.”
She smiled. “I’ll take them. All I have to do is mention Cruz’s alimony, and he’ll forget all about the state of the criminal justice system.”